Former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women.
The Guardian and BBC have heard accounts from seven women who alledge that they were victims of Westwood’s predatory sexual behaviour. Four of these women have claimed that they were groped by him at events.
The women, who are all Black, were all in their late teens or early twenties when the alleged incidents occurred and claim that Westwood abused his power and position in the music industry to exploit them. The earliest incident reportedly occurred in 1992 and the most recent in 2017.
One victim alleges that Westwood flashed her when she was 19. “I didn’t actually see him undo his trousers. What alerted me to the fact that he was exposing himself was the fact that he actually tapped me to turn around to look,” she said. “I’ve looked and I’ve seen and I’m like, ‘Oh, no, oh no, like, oh my God’.”
Another victim, who was 17 when she first met Westwood, commented on his powerful standing in the music industry. “He could make or break your career,” she said. “If you wanted to get any kind of exposure, you would try to get your demo to him and pray that he would play it. He had absolute power. Within the recording industry and the Black community, despite him being a white man, he had absolute power.”
Westwood is one of the best-known names in the Black music scene in the UK. He was an early champion of hip-hop in the UK and hosted Radio 1’s Rap Show, the first nationally-broadcast rap show on UK radio, from 1994. He was credited with platforming up-and-coming talent on the show and went on to be named ‘Best UK Radio DJ’ at the MOBO awards three times.
This isn’t the first time Westwood has been accused of sexual misconduct. In June 2020, he vehemently denied he had behaved “inappropriately with student fans” after allegations emerged on social media.
Speaking to MailOnline, he said: “I can categorically say that I have never had an inappropriate relationship with anyone under the age of 18. I am aware of attempts by anonymous sources to make fabricated allegations online. I can confirm that such allegations are false and without any foundation.”
Westwood has denied all the allegations reported today by the Guardian and BBC.
